


Like Brothers

by violetstorm



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Nicknames, Pre-BBS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-19 23:43:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15521334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violetstorm/pseuds/violetstorm
Summary: “You can’t keep avoiding him forever, Terra.”Terra was hesitant to talk to Ventus, at first.





	Like Brothers

“You can’t keep avoiding him forever, Terra.”

A lecture, this early? Terra groaned and covered his face with his hand, slowly dragging it downwards as he tried to stitch together a response. “I know, Aqua, but…” He stole a glance at Aqua, who had her hands on her hips. “It’s just hard.”

And frightening, but she didn’t need to know that.

“It’s not going to get any easier if you don’t try.”

“I _know._ ”

“Then why don’t you try doing something? He likes you, y’know. He watches you train all the time and he enjoys your cooking.”

“He likes my cooking?” Terra could have sworn he had a sweet tooth. Either he had low standards, or Terra’s cooking wasn’t as bad as Aqua teased it to be.

“ _Yes,_ Terra,” and whatever control Aqua put into hiding her exasperation flew out the window. “He likes you. If only you’d just give him a chance…”

“I will, I will. I’ll try,” Terra said and he didn’t know who he was trying to convince. It worked on Aqua, for she gave him a smile, some words of encouragement that flew over Terra’s head and she went back to making her breakfast. Convincing Aqua took little effort.

If only convincing himself would be that easy.

Terra stared at his coffee, dark and bitter, as Aqua began to hum.

* * *

 

Terra found him sitting outside, staring off into space. That still seemed to be his favourite hobby, though it wasn’t surprising, considering that was all he did when he first came to the Land of Departure. Terra never voiced it, but his blank stares always creeped him out. It was like he could see right through Terra, right through his heart, secrets and all.

Terra cleared his throat. “Uh, Ventus..? How’s it going?”

Ventus turned, and there was the barest hint of a nod. Better than nothing. There was a lot more life in his eyes, too. For a second, Terra wondered why he was alone. Either he was in his bedroom, under Eraqus’ watchful eye, or tagging behind Aqua. By the time he worked up the courage to ask, Ventus had turned his gaze back to the sky.

“It’s a nice view, isn’t it?” Terra said lamely. Ventus didn’t respond and if Terra was being honest, he didn’t blame him. _‘It’s a nice view’._ Just one word away from saying ‘ _it’s a nice day,’_ the most generic, boring phrase that ends conversations more than it starts them.

 _Talk to him,_ Terra could practically hear Aqua telling him. _About what,_ Terra would respond with. There wasn’t much to talk about and there was no way he was going to ask Ventus any questions. Ventus’ pained yells, the way he’d clutched at his head, _everything_ from that day had failed to leave Terra’s mind and he was _not_ interested in a repeat.

“I’m going to train out here for a bit. D’you mind?” No answer. “Alright, I’ll be right over here if you need me. So… if you need me to go somewhere else just ask, okay?”

More blank stares and Terra had to physically fight the urge to slap himself. Ventus hadn’t said a word (at least in Terra’s presence) since he first came, so why in the world would he talk to Terra now? Terra slumped away with his tail between his legs and his pride in pieces.

With one last glance at Ventus, Terra began going through his warm-ups, easily falling into his daily routine. _This,_ he knew, back-to-front. If it was one thing he was confident in, it was his training. It was familiar, it was comforting.

So much so that Terra hadn’t noticed Ventus watching him until much time had passed. Terra shrugged it off, noting that if he couldn’t take one person watching him, he’d never be able to perform in front of the Master for his Mark of Mastery exam. Practice, it was all practice.

_Step forward with your right foot. Slash your keyblade in a downward arc._

Aqua’s voice was there in his head again, but it wasn’t helping him with his training. It was her voice from his morning, reprimanding Terra. _“He likes watching you train.”_

_Step with your left foot and—_

Terra hesitated.

_—a horizontal slash. Slash your keyblade horizontally._

_Damn._ Forgetting the most basic combo was a definite way to fail the Mark of Mastery exam. Shivers crawled up his spine at the thought of failure— but most of them were from Ventus’ stare, which had yet to break. Either he could begin his reps again, or ask Ventus about his staring and probably not get an answer.

_“He likes watching you train.”_

Terra let out a long breath. He promised Aqua he’d try. So he turned around, and approached Ventus, his entire body on edge. “Hey Ventus,” Terra said. “That was kinda stupid of me, huh? I don’t normally mess up like that.”

Silence.

“But that’s why I practice. Y’know, practice makes perfect, and all that. I’ve gotta do it if I want to pass the Mark of Mastery exam and become a Keyblade Master. That’s my biggest dream. ...It’s all I’ve ever dreamed of.”

Ventus made a sort of ‘ _hm’_ sound and Terra blanched. He was rambling, yet Ventus didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he was training his slightly-creepy-ish stare at Earthshaker. He _did_ have the potential to become a keyblade wielder— that was why Master Xehanort brought him to Master Eraqus in the first place.

Terra was about to dismiss Earthshaker, too worried that seeing a keyblade would trigger Ventus, but stopped when Ventus reached out. He ran his fingers along Earthshaker, lightly, like he was admiring a work of art. All without a word. Then he looked up to Terra as if waiting for an explanation.

 _What now?_ Terra panicked and not for the first time, he wished Aqua was here to deal with this.

“I can teach you how to use a keyblade,” Terra blurted out. “I can train you?”

To Terra’s surprise, Ventus nodded. Not a slight movement of his head, but a full-on nod and determination seemed to fill his eyes.

* * *

 

Aqua was preparing dinner in the kitchen, her back to the doorway, stirring a pot of something that smelled like curry. Terra stepped inside, his footsteps audible. Aqua turned around briefly, just to give a quick hello, before turning back to the pot.

“Hey, Terra. Weren’t you supposed to be helping me prepare dinner?”

“Sorry, I meant to come earlier, but I got caught up with something.”

“Mmhm.”

"Hey, I have a good excuse." Terra pulled out a chair from a table and tried as he might, he couldn’t stop a grin stretching from ear to ear. “I took your advice from this morning.”

Now he had Aqua’s full attention. “You mean about Ventus? What happened? How did it go?”

“I trained with Ven for a little bit today. I used our wooden keyblades and he held his in a _backwards_ grip," Terra started. "His memory’s still a bit fuzzy, but I guess his muscle memory is still there. He was a natural at everything I taught him. It was only the basics, but still. Ven was pretty into it, too. He was the most alive I’ve ever seen him. That’s why I was late. Our training went on longer than we expected…”

Terra trailed off. He scratched the back of his neck and scolded himself for rambling. _Again._ Thankfully, Aqua was used to his rambling, but Terra wasn’t used to her silence. He waited for Aqua’s response. And waited. And waited.

“Wha… What is it?” Terra asked. There was a look on Aqua’s face that Terra couldn’t read and he would have almost preferred her classic disappointed look over this. At least, that way, he’d know exactly what she was thinking. “I didn’t— I didn’t _hurt_ him or anything. We used our wooden keyblades and he wasn’t in pain. I don’t think I made him remember any painful memories; he seemed fine. Really! I swear, I—”

“Terra, wait,” Aqua cut him off and Terra fell silent immediately. She hid her mouth behind her hand. “I wasn’t judging you. It’s just that… you called him Ven. I was surprised.”

“Huh? Oh, that. Yeah, well, I… I thought… it’s just easier on the tongue? Ven was fine with the nickname, so I—”

“No, no, it’s alright. I think it’s cute.” Aqua’s smile grew, her hand failing to hide it. “You guys are really growing closer now, aren’t you?”

“I guess. It’s not much, but at least it’s something.”

“I’m proud of you for trying. See? I told you everything would be fine with… Ven,” Aqua said. “The nickname suits him. Ven,” she tried again, thinking for a moment. “Hm, you think he would mind if I called him that, too?”

Terra cracked a smile. “I think he’d appreciate it. Why not ask him at dinner?”

“You mean with the dinner that you didn’t help prepare?”

“You’re still angry about that? I’ll help with tomorrow, I promise.”

Aqua laughed. “Maybe we can ask Ven to join us as well.”

“Yeah,” Terra said, with no hesitation at all. “I’m sure he’d love to join us.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> More late-night drabbles because sleeping issues! I know that somewhere, I forgot where, it's said that Terra gave Ven his nickname because he couldn't pronounce his full name right, but I thought that this scenario would be fun to consider.
> 
> Bonus segment that never made it in the final product (during Terra and Ven's training):  
> “Alright,” Terra handed Ventus his wooden keyblade, his treasured wooden keyblade. “The first thing you’re gonna need to know about is your grip. You’ll need to—”
> 
> Terra stopped. Ventus had flipped his keyblade, holding it in a backwards grip, and was staring expectantly at Terra.
> 
> “Uh, that’s not, you’re supposed to…” Terra began to say, but Ventus’ expression was akin to that of a kicked puppy’s and dammit, Terra wasn’t about to make the kid cry. “You know what, never mind. I’ve never practiced the backwards grip personally, but the basics should still be the same. You still with me? Alright, first, we’re going to..."
> 
> (thanks for reading~!)


End file.
